Steve Albrecht wins the 2019 Karl Scheel Prize

The Physical Society of Berlin is awarding the Karl-scheel-Prize to Steve Albrecht.

The Physical Society of Berlin is awarding the Karl-scheel-Prize to Steve Albrecht. © HZB

This year's Karl Scheel Prize from the Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin honours Steve Albrecht of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie for his work in the field of highly efficient tandem solar cell absorbers made of metal-halide perovskites.

The award will be presented to Prof. Steve Albrecht in Magnus House of the Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin on Friday, June 28, 2019. Albrecht will also deliver a lecture entitled “Highly Efficient Tandem Solar Cell Absorbers Made of Metal-Halide Perovskites”. The Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin cordially invites you to this event.

Albrecht has headed the Helmholtz Perovskite Tandem Solar Cell Junior Research Group at the HZB since August 2016 and has been appointed junior professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science of the Technische Universität Berlin in December 2018. Together with colleagues at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, he succeeded in realising the first monolithic perovskite/silicon hetero-junction tandem solar cell, recording a record efficiency of 18.1 %.

Prof. Bernd Rech, Scientific Director of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, emphasises: “Steve Albrecht has achieved outstanding results over the past four years as a head of a Helmholtz Junior Research Group at the HZB, all the more since the topic of perovskite solar cells was new territory at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. He has been inspiring not only as a scientist, but also as a person.”

The Karl Scheel Prize has been awarded over a period of more than 50 years to a member of the Physikalische Gesellschaft for outstanding scientific work usually carried out after a doctorate. In accordance with Karl Scheel's bequest, the prize winner will be presented with the Karl Scheel Medal as well as a monetary award of €5,000 at a celebratory colloquium (Karl Scheel Meeting).

The Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin cordially invites you to this event.

Award ceremony: Friday, June 28, 2019 at 17:15

Venue: Lecture hall of Magnus-Haus, Am Kupfergraben 7, 10117 Berlin

More Information on the Karl-Scheel-Prize of the Physical Society of Berlin.

red.

  • Copy link

You might also be interested in

  • Joint Kyiv Energy and Climate Lab goes live
    News
    28.11.2025
    Joint Kyiv Energy and Climate Lab goes live
    Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy established on 27 November a Joint Energy and Climate Lab.
  • How carbonates influence CO2-to-fuel conversion
    Science Highlight
    25.11.2025
    How carbonates influence CO2-to-fuel conversion
    Researchers from the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society (FHI) have uncovered how carbonate molecules affect the conversion of CO2 into valuable fuels on gold electrocatalysts. Their findings reveal key molecular mechanisms in CO2 electrocatalysis and hydrogen evolution, pointing to new strategies for improving energy efficiency and reaction selectivity.

  • Peat as a sustainable precursor for fuel cell catalyst materials
    Science Highlight
    25.11.2025
    Peat as a sustainable precursor for fuel cell catalyst materials
    Iron-nitrogen-carbon catalysts have the potential to replace the more expensive platinum catalysts currently used in fuel cells. This is shown by a study conducted by researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and universities in Tartu and Tallinn, Estonia. At BESSY II, the team observed the formation of complex microstructures within various samples. They then analysed which structural parameters were particularly important for fostering the preferred electrochemical reactions. The raw material for such catalysts is well decomposed peat.